1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates generally to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method. More particularly, the present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method of reducing power consumption of the image forming apparatus when a terminal device, such as a mobile phone, is connected to the image forming apparatus using a local area communication scheme, such as Wi-Fi, and configures a wireless network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As mobile communication devices advance, mobile host devices such as mobile phones or personal digital assistants are propagated widely. The mobile phone has not only a basic phone call function but also functions for writing and storing a phone number, a memo, and a transmitted message.
Since the various functions of the mobile device can be used anywhere with mobility, the mobile device is increasingly used to store and manage information. For example, it is possible to store acquaintance's information including his/her phone number in the mobile phone and to retrieve or modify the stored information anytime. Recent mobile phones include a photographing function to store a photo together with the acquaintance information.
To print data stored to the mobile host device, a user can print the data by connecting the mobile host device to an image forming device. In this regard, Wi-Fi Direct transfers data through direct connection between mobile devices in association with the recent Wi-Fi technology.
That is, to print data using the Wi-Fi direct connection, the mobile host device performs the printing job by connecting to the image forming device acting as a Wi-Fi Direct group owner (soft AP) using the Wi-Fi Direct.
However, after the printing job is finished, the mobile host device connected to the image forming device using the Wi-Fi Direct maintains the Wi-Fi Direct connection and waits for a next printing job in the related art. As a result, power consumption of the image forming device increases.